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California Flood Science

Helping emergency managers and others protect life and property from floods and other water-related hazards

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California Drought

Monitoring the effects of drought in California through data collection and research

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Supplying necessary scientific information to local, state, and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations

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Surface Water

Understanding the science about California surface-water use for irrigation, public consumption, and ecosystems

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Groundwater

Using science to assess and quantify the availability and quality of California's groundwater resources

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Water Quality

Providing foundational data and scientific analysis to address water quality issues facing California

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Aquatic Ecology

Gaining better understanding of the effects that human activity, hydrologic extremes, and climate change have on aquatic ecosystems

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California Water Science Center

The U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center (CAWSC) provides reliable, impartial, foundational data and scientific analysis to address water issues facing California today. We conduct hydrologic monitoring and investigative studies in partnership with tribal, federal, state, and local agencies to assist them in managing California's water resources.

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Hydrologic technicians, Kyle Nakatsuka and Thomas Jetson, deploying a flow sensor on a shoal in San Francisco Bay.

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California Water & Drought Data

Basic hydrologic data collection, processing, analysis, dissemination, and archiving are major parts of the California Water Science Center program.

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Scientists Discuss Research at Geological Society of America Meeting

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New science informs extent of hexavalent chromium groundwater plumes in Hinkley Valley

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Publications

Comparative toxicity of two neonicotinoid insecticides at environmentally relevant concentrations to telecoprid dung beetles

Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) frequently traverse agricultural matrices in search of ephemeral dung resources and spend extended periods of time burrowing in soil. Neonicotinoids are among the most heavily applied and widely detected insecticides used in conventional agriculture with formulated products designed for row crop and livestock pest suppression. Here, we determined the compara
Authors
Michael C. Cavallaro, Michelle Hladik, Samantha Hittson, Greg Middleton, W. Wyatt Hoback
By
Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center

Natural and anthropogenic hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in groundwater near a mapped plume, Hinkley, California

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station (fig. 1), in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is used to compress natural gas as it is transported through a pipeline from Texas to California. Between 1952 and 1964, cooling water was treated with a compound containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), to prevent corrosion of machinery within the co
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John A. Izbicki, Krishangi D. Groover, Whitney A. Seymour, David M. Miller, John G. Warden, Laurence G. Miller
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Water Resources Mission Area, California Water Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Heavy: Software for forward-modeling gravity change from MODFLOW output

Fortran software, named Heavy, was developed to simulate gravity change due to water-storage change in MODFLOW groundwater models. Heavy is compatible with MODFLOW-2005 and MODFLOW-NWT models using the layer-property flow or upstream weighting packages. All of the necessary information for the gravity calculation—the geometry of the model cells, the storage coefficient, and head change—is present
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Jeffrey Kennedy, Joshua Larsen
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Water Resources Mission Area, Arizona Water Science Center, California Water Science Center
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Natural Gas Compressor Station

Results of Hexavalent Chromium Background Study in Hinkley, California

John Izbicki, PhD, a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) California Water Science Center (CAWSC), led a five-year scientific study to determine the range of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) hexavalent chromium concentrations, also referred to as chromium-6 or Cr(VI), in Hinkley Valley. The study was cooperatively funded by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control...
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California Water Science Center
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Results of Hexavalent Chromium Background Study in Hinkley, California

John Izbicki, PhD, a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) California Water Science Center (CAWSC), led a five-year scientific study to determine the range of natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) hexavalent chromium concentrations, also referred to as chromium-6 or Cr(VI), in Hinkley Valley. The study was cooperatively funded by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control...
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Rock Drought Barrier on West False River

Emergency Drought Barrier’s Impacts on cyanoHABs and Water Quality

Drought is making the Delta Saltier. Less freshwater coming from watershed runoff and reservoir releases means that more salty water flows into the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta (Delta) from the Pacific Ocean. Changes in Delta salinity have far-reaching impacts, affecting the water supply for agriculture, drinking, wildlife, and Delta ecosystems.
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California Water Science Center
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Emergency Drought Barrier’s Impacts on cyanoHABs and Water Quality

Drought is making the Delta Saltier. Less freshwater coming from watershed runoff and reservoir releases means that more salty water flows into the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta (Delta) from the Pacific Ocean. Changes in Delta salinity have far-reaching impacts, affecting the water supply for agriculture, drinking, wildlife, and Delta ecosystems.
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Study area map Salinas Valley, Monterey County, California.

Salinas Valley Operational Model: Interlake Tunnel and San Antonio Spillway Modification Project

An operational model for Salinas Valley is needed to evaluate and compare ecosystem, conservation, and water demands. This model must simulate current operations, assess benefits of and evaluate scenarios for tunnel operation and potential reservoir and spillway modifications.
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California Water Science Center
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Salinas Valley Operational Model: Interlake Tunnel and San Antonio Spillway Modification Project

An operational model for Salinas Valley is needed to evaluate and compare ecosystem, conservation, and water demands. This model must simulate current operations, assess benefits of and evaluate scenarios for tunnel operation and potential reservoir and spillway modifications.
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